Manti Te'o could fall to Packers, according to this mock draft

Could Manti Te'o fall as far as the No. 26 pick in the NFL draft? At least one NFL writer believes it, and he has the Packers selecting the Notre Dame linebacker in April.

Bucky Brooks of NFL.com revealed his second mock draft of January, this one coming the day before the Senior Bowl.

Brooks has Green Bay selecting Te'o, the senior who finished second in Heisman voting and has been embroiled in controversy about a fictitious woman.

Whether or not Te'o falls into the late first round remains to be seen.

Five of Brooks' peers at NFL.com forecast Te'o could be drafted as high as No. 8 and as low as No. 31 overall. It needs to be pointed out, however, that most of the predictions for Te'o - aside from Brooks' - appear to have been made before the news about Te'o and the fictitious woman surfaced nationally.

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Teo is a great player. But, the one guy that he reminds me of is AJ Hawk. Now, if Hawk was picked at the end of the first round, his performance as a 6 year stater would be accepted. He's tough and despite the really strange story, he's supposedly a great kid.

However, with Bishop, Smith, Lattimore, Manning, Jones (assuming AJ is sent packing) on the team, its hard to see ILB as a need. That's what sucks about the team right now. They are maybe not as good as their record incicated and they have a TON of holes to fill AND their two best players need extensions.

I could live with Ertz, he's a complete TE. Too early for Lacy, Fredrick and Williams. Jones would be hard to pass up.

How is it hard to see ILB as a need? Bishop tore his hamstring completely off the bone, DJ Smith blew his knee out and is small for the position and a late round selection. Hawk cannot make an impact play. Jones I like but has limitations. He just isn't stout enough.

I mostly agree with Murph. Just becaus they have a lot of backup, doesn't mean they don't need anyone. Lattimore and Manning are still developing at the position. Who knows if either will be any good. Smith looks solid, but I question whether he will ever be a force like Bishop is. I have a feeling that Jones is gone. While Hawk may give a solid performance, the team can really use more of an impact player at that spot.

I like the Ertz pick, but I question whether or not he is 1st round material. I think it would be a better value pick if they could slide back a little and still get him. He is a nice big target, he actually likes blocking, and he seems to have enough athleticism to make difficult catches. The team needs a new #1 TE and could do worse than Ertz.

I won't complain if the Pack takes Jenkins if he's there, I just think he'll be the 4th DT taken and J Williams will be the 5th. That right 5 will go in the 1st round.......................I'm saying it.

Packers would be lucky to have Te'o fall to them. He's a complete backer. He'll probably test slow; but he has game speed. He was the epitome of a game-changing LB last season. And that's what the Packers need. Hawk has had two seasons in a row with zero forced fumbles, fumbles recovered, and interceptions. That's unheard of and needs to change. Te'o would be a huge improvement for the Packers. Here's more on his college play and fit for the Packers: http://wp.me/p29VCs-f1

If B Jones is there at 26 you have to take him. Not only would he protect the franchise, ARod, but he would open holes for the running game. I think Harris is going to have a breakout year next year at running back, with a full training camp, and pre-season he might be great. Cedrick Benson and Harris could be a great 1 - 2 punch

Te'o I won't mind coming to GB he has shown what he was capable to do last season for the ND fighting Irish the Packers could use his intensity. Will he fall to the Packers? Well the NFL.com writer think so maybe because of the offseason fiasco?

Regarding B Jones Barrett Jones played the recent BCS National Championship Game with a Lisfranc injury (h/t CommishOnline.com). While that's not a great injury to have to try to play through, it's one from which most people can recover easily.

That is, if you aren't over 300 pounds like Barrett Jones is. He will have to fight through the injury, and while it's not anything close to career-ending, it's still something that can bother him during his first year in the NFL.

The biggest worry that Jones faces from here on out is the possible development of arthritis in his joints from the injury. If he doesn't take time off to completely rest after his surgery and arthritis develops as a result, he will have pain in his feet for the rest of his life.

Regarding the first round pick one name could be thrown into discussion is John Jenkins.The Packers were only able to stop the run when they held leads early which suggests to me they need to beef up their base defense at both the first (defensive line) level and the second level with their linebacker play.

John Jenkins, a massive 349-pound nose tackle with surprising athleticism for a big man, would be an ideal pick.

With Pickett entering the twilight of his career, Jenkins will have a chance to learn from two veteran standout tackles while contributing early and often in base. He may also provide the Packers insurance if it becomes difficult to extend Raji's contract or if Raji were to get hurt.

Senior Bowl analysts have been enamored with Jenkins' play which may shoot him up draft boards.

The reason I think he may still be available at the Packers #26 slot is because Jenkins mainly fits between three-four schemes and there are quite a few talented defensive linemen in this draft class who may be picked ahead of him.GO PACK GO

Aaron Rodgers Beard - Today at 9:30 PM - Report Abuse00Harris is a guy. Not sure he even makes the roster.-------------------------------------------------------------------Not sure what you dranked tonight but Harris automatically gets a spot after his performance at the end of the season. I think Bensen and Harris if either can stay healthy will be a pretty good 1-2 punch no doubt about it.GO PACK GO

Harris probably never was given a decent shot and besides wasn't he a Jaguar and they released him? they already have a over the top Running back and why not save some cap room and release someone they don't need same thing with the Steelers already have two good RBs. Packers picked him up put him on practice squad and saw something special and gave him a shot and he showed us something awesome. Harris deserves to be on the roster and will. The guy most likely probably not be back maybe Ryan Grant we shall seeGO PACK GO

Harris probably never was given a decent shot and besides wasn't he a Jaguar and they released him? they already have a over the top Running back and why not save some cap room and release someone they don't need same thing with the Steelers already have two good RBs. Packers picked him up put him on practice squad and saw something special and gave him a shot and he showed us something awesome. Harris deserves to be on the roster and will. The guy most likely probably not be back maybe Ryan Grant we shall seeGO PACK GO

Harris probably never was given a decent shot and besides wasn't he a Jaguar and they released him? they already have a over the top Running back and why not save some cap room and release someone they don't need same thing with the Steelers already have two good RBs. Packers picked him up put him on practice squad and saw something special and gave him a shot and he showed us something awesome. Harris deserves to be on the roster and will. The guy most likely probably not be back maybe Ryan Grant we shall seeGO PACK GO

Harris probably never was given a decent shot and besides wasn't he a Jaguar and they released him? they already have a over the top Running back and why not save some cap room and release someone they don't need same thing with the Steelers already have two good RBs. Packers picked him up put him on practice squad and saw something special and gave him a shot and he showed us something awesome. Harris deserves to be on the roster and will. The guy most likely probably not be back maybe Ryan Grant we shall seeGO PACK GO

Harris probably never was given a decent shot and besides wasn't he a Jaguar and they released him? they already have a over the top Running back and why not save some cap room and release someone they don't need same thing with the Steelers already have two good RBs. Packers picked him up put him on practice squad and saw something special and gave him a shot and he showed us something awesome. Harris deserves to be on the roster and will. The guy most likely probably not be back maybe Ryan Grant we shall seeGO PACK GO

AverageGuy - Today at 9:40 PM - Report Abuse00Te'o was terrible in the Alabama game. He couldn't take on a block and kept trying to shoot gaps and take risks with no results. NO WAY!! He is terrible.-------------------------------------------------------------------Te'o for one game was stuffed I get that however through out the College Football season he went on a tangent and really took ND's defense to a new level Te'o with right coaching he could be a beast in the NFL. Matthews against some teams done nothing why? No its not because he is terrible, its because of lack of help and probably a whole bunch of double teams and really good chip shots. ALabama is a whole differant team and the only team that could take that team was Texas A&M now how? I don't know. Anyways Te'o has shown us that 1. One heck of a deceiver 2. one intensified LB that the Packers could need by Matthews. Heck if the guy could lie to himself and play with that intensity by all means do that and help Matthews and Packers D stuff our opponents offense but will he fall to us who knows.GO PACK GO

fzvit, I don't see any relationship. Te'o has more risk than Hawk did with his inconsistent play and all this off the field drama. With Hawk people didn't know if he would be a pro bowler, but they also knew there was little chance he would flame-out and never contribute. I know some people on here think he did, but obviously the team feels otherwise.

KareemAbdulYourMamma - Today at 9:49 PM - Report Abuse00Harris was great for the team and is probably adequate for the Packers needs....but there is a reason he was selling cars and available.--------------------------------------------------------Harris probably never was given a decent shot and besides wasn't he a Jaguar and they released him? they already have a over the top Running back and why not save some cap room and release someone they don't need same thing with the Steelers already have two good RBs. Packers picked him up put him on practice squad and saw something special and gave him a shot and he showed us something awesome. Harris deserves to be on the roster and will. The guy most likely probably not be back maybe Ryan Grant we shall seeGO PACK GO